A leaked conversation between Turkey's intelligence chief and the war room reveals plot to create a casus belli for war with Syria by using ISIL, an alQaeda offshoot, to threaten a turkish shrine Suleiman Shah Tomb. Turkey has blocked youtube in order to cover up the leaks.

Turkish Foreign Ministry confirmed the recording of planning for a military incursion into Syria adding that a 'network of treason' was responsible for leak. Part two of the leaked conversation implicates John Kerry US secretary of state in the plot.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Democracy and Class Struggle publish this article not because we agree with all its content but because it highlights Jobbik - a party requiring close scrutiny by revolutionaries especially their use of Green Nazis ideas..

"Germany was able to accomplish with the EU what it could not accomplish with two world wars" -- Hungarian citizen

The rise of the radical right in Western European countries, particularly in France and the Netherlands, has been a large focus of media attention and scholarly analysis. However, less attention has been paid to the rise of the radical right in Eastern Europe and its links to the anti-austerity and anti-EU movements.The incredibly successful right-wing party Jobbik in Hungary has been receiving more attention as of late from the media in the U. S., but most political commentators have focused on Jobbik's anti-Semitic and anti-Roma rhetoric and simply dismissed them as contemporary fascists.While it is important to recognize the scapegoat trifecta in Hungary of Roma, Jews, and homosexuals, in giving the radical right political legitimacy during a devastating economic downturn, simply dismissing them as neo-fascists hides the complexity of the anti-globalization movements and sentiments they articulate.For in many ways, Jobbik is a microcosm of a larger trend. A similarly nationalist party in neighboring Ukraine, the Svoboda Party, has also recently gained over ten percent of the national vote and is considered a racist and anti-Semitic party as well.Slovakia's nationalist party Slovak National Party also follows similar rhetoric. All of these nationalist parties in Eastern Europe are focusing on the imperial nature of the EU, rather than the "immigrant problem" that the right focuses on in Western Europe.The far-right Jobbik Party dominates the anti-EU movement in Hungary. Jobbik is a play on words in Hungarian, meaning both right in terms of direction and "righter" in terms of better. Jobbik party members are the most virulent voices against austerity and Hungary's involvement in the EU. According to Jobbik's English website, the EU is a "colonizing force" that "enslaves the Hungarian people" (Jobbik Party Website). Many people I spoke to in Budapest this fall agreed with Jobbik's assessment that the EU has indeed been a colonizing force in Hungary. Leaders of the party claim that EU has "declared war" on Hungary.Indeed, many aspects of the EU expansion into Eastern European countries can be seen as a new form of financial imperialism, spearheaded by Germany and Western Europe. Many Hungarian homeowners were encouraged by the Hungarian state and banks to finance their home loans in Swiss Francs. Unfortunately, with the recent devaluation of the Forint, many Hungarians can no longer afford to make payments on their homes or apartments (New York Times). Many local businesses and agricultural producers have been put out of business by the EU's import requirements for Hungary. Numerous Hungarians complained about the fact that most local businesses were destroyed by the EU and lamented the fact that Hungary was no longer a self sustainable country or economy.

The new financial imperialism of the EU is glaringly evident in the Hungarian state's macro-economic decisions. The state was on the verge of insolvency and the current Prime Minister, Orban, had to eventually acquiesce to Brussel's demands in order to borrow an emergency loan package of 25 million Euros to save Hungary from bankruptcy.Before he did, however, Orban (leader of the center right party Fidesz) utilized very similar anti-EU and anti-Western rhetoric to challenge the EU's austerity requirements in Hungary. Orban compared the EU's treatment of Hungary to the Soviet's treatment of the country and vowed that Hungary would no longer be a colony.The rhetoric of colonialism resonates with a large cross section of the population. Many young people view their economic prospects within Hungary as abysmal. Large numbers of young doctors are headed to Western Europe, where they can make four times the salary paid to a doctor in Hungary (BBC). Significant amounts of young people are migrating to the UK, Germany, and other areas of Western Europe in order to find higher paying job opportunities.Typically, these young people end up working within the service and care sectors, which are some of the lowest paid sectors of the economy. Hungarians and other Eastern European people are performing the jobs that many Western Europeans no longer want to do.

So, besides racist rhetoric, how does the right in Hungary utilize ideas of imperialism and colonialism to gain political support? Jobbik promotes policies that include economic redistribution in society, protecting the environment, ending the privatization of farm lands to foreigners, promoting locally produced food that is not genetically modified, protecting water resources, increasing the proportion of green spaces in urban areas, and an overall condemnation of the failure of global capitalism. These policies are meant to increase the strength of Hungary's economy and to lessen its dependence upon the EU and the 'West'. Moving a step beyond financial independence from the EU, Jobbik also promotes turning 'eastward' in its economic policies. The party even goes as far to claim that Hungarians are closer in culture to the East and that is why Hungary should develop its economic relationships with countries in Central and Southeast Asia. These policies are naturally appealing to many Hungarians who have become disillusioned with the transition to capitalism. A large amount of people expected to reach West German and American standards of living within a generation, and have become doubly disillusioned with continuing economic crises, which is one of the major reasons nationalist parties gain political legitimacy.

Ultimately, while Jobbik's discourse surrounding Jewish and Roma populations should be disconcerting to Americans, the more worrying trend should be Jobbik's turn to the 'East'. Hungary was one of the first agitators against Soviet communism in the region and was one of the first countries to end the communist regime. Hungarians looked to the U.S. and the West for guidance and inspiration on the path to democracy and capitalism, and have instead largely become disillusioned with the after-effects of the transition. Instead of analyzing Jobbik's rise in popularity based purely upon fascism and racism, American commentators should also be looking to address why many Hungarians are looking to the East, and not the West any longer, for economic opportunities and guidance.

NB :This article was published at Huffington Post before Fascist Putsch in Kiev

CPN-Maoist spokesperson Pampha Bhusal,KATHMANDU, March 24: An intense debate has erupted within the CPN-Maoist over the party’s organizational structure to be endorsed through its forthcoming national convention slated for June. The rank and file members have begun a debate on whether to adopt a centralized general-secretarial system or a collective leadership to bolster the party organization. Though the upcoming national conference was scheduled to discuss CPN-Maoist’s organizational structure besides its future plan and policies, the debate was sparked after the party recently decided to adopt a general-secretarial system at the district level. District conferences of the party, which are currently underway in most of the districts, will end by mid-April. But some leaders are not convinced about the secretarial system at the district level as such a structure not only contradicts the system at the center, but also the party’s statute.“The statute clearly stipulates a collective leadership from the top to the bottom. We have not understood why the district-level committees have been restructured along the secretarial system,” a CPN-Maoist leader told Republica, insisting anonymity. The newly adopted organizational structure in the district committees does not envisage the post of chairman with collective leadership though the party’s high command and other wings have a chairmanship-led system with a collective leadership. CPN-Maoist spokesperson Pampha Bhusal, however, denied that the party is heading toward a centralized leadership.“Adopting a secretarial system at the district level does not necessarily mean that the entire party is heading toward a centralized leadership,” she said, adding that there would be a collective leadership in the party even after the national convention. But she was quick to add that the party is mulling drastic changes in the organizational structure. Party’s politburo member Khadka Bahadur Bishwokarma does not rule out the possibility of the party adopting a centralized leadership at the top level. “Though we are yet to discuss the issue in the party, what I can say for sure is that we have been mulling a sea change in the party’s leadership pattern,” he told Republica.The party had adopted the general-secretarial system for some two decades. But it switched to a structure with the all-powerful chairman, which also included a general secretary, while launching the ‘people’s war’ in 1996. “Yes, the issue has surfaced in the party, though it has not created any row so far,” said CPN-Maoist leader Santosh Buda Magar. He further said that many leaders in the party were of the view that there should be similarity in the organizational structure from the center to the grassroots level. The CPN-Maoist has finished its district level conferences in more than a dozen districts by MondaySee Also: http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/nepal-pampha-bhusal-of-cpn-maoist-on.htmlSource: Republica

George Kennanwas the U.S. diplomat and Russia specialist who developed the cold war strategy of containment of the Soviet Union, though he later criticized its militaristic implementation.

In 1998, when the Senate voted to extend NATO to include Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, Kennan was askedto comment. He responded:

"I think it is the beginning of a new cold war," said Mr. Kennan from his Princeton home. "I think the Russians will gradually react quite adversely and it will affect their policies. I think it is a tragic mistake. There was no reason for this whatsoever."
...
"It shows so little understanding of Russian history and Soviet history. Of course there is going to be a bad reaction from Russia, and then [the NATO expanders] will say that we always told you that is how the Russians are -- but this is just wrong."

This video is from 2012 but still retains its informative edge has NATO is now pivoting towards Russia - also remember the pivot towards China outlined by US President Obama in Australia in 2011 has a pivot towards Asia.

Democracy and Class Struggle welcomes this article by Pepe Escobar on the Ukraine has it focuses on the real issue of NATO which gets lost in EU talk and which the European Left has underestimated in its polemics about the Ukraine - thanks for keeping your eye on the real issue Pepe Escobar.The new Ukraine of “Yats,” Tyahnybok and Yarosh, in a rush, signed the political points of an association agreement with the EU in a Brussels summit last Friday.No less than 30 (unelected) EU bureaucrats also signed it, including European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission (EC) President Jose Manuel Barroso.

This is the same deal former president Viktor Yanukovich decided to scotch last November – which subsequently led to the Maidan protests, a US-supported putsch crammed with fascist and neo-nazi actors, and Moscow taking over Crimea without firing a shot. So in theory this is the deal that started it all. That Magritte-style non-entity, Van Rompuy, said it“recognizes the aspirations of the people of Ukraine to live in a country governed by values, by democracy and the rule of law.”Hold your (Mongol) horses; as the record shows, “democracy” and “the rule of law” are not exactly features of the Svoboda and Right Sector regime-changers in Kiev.

Yanukovich scotched the EU deal for two essential reasons: it would destroy Ukrainian industry (opening the door to an invasion of Western products and the takeover of rich agricultural lands by Western agro-business); and it would force Ukraine to obey NATO military protocols. What was signed last Friday is not even the meat of the matter; that’s trade integration – shorthand for “How Ukraine will be Plundered.”The EU left it for later – first the IMF must polish the ultra-stringent details of the upcoming “structural adjustment.” The European Council, for its part, is promising a rose garden.

It’s all about NATO

Hysterical 24/7 Western spin conveys the impression Ukraine will be annexed by a (mostly bankrupt) EU tomorrow. No so fast! The final deal will be just an association agreement; afterwards there would be a long and winding road towards EU admission (which, by the way, the absolute majority of EU member-nations don't want.)

Article 7.2. of the association agreement states that Ukraine will have to comply with the common foreign and security policy (CFSP) and the European security and defense policy (ESDP). The conditions are spelled out here and here.

The obscure – even for most Europeans - ESDP happens to be the key European pillar of NATO. Translation: it details how the EU is subordinated to the US (which controls NATO). For instance, the EU may only act in a determined case if NATO first declines to. Additionally, the March 2003 Berlin-plus agreement allows the EU to use NATO’s hardware and software for military operations if NATO declines to. What this essentially means is that Ukraine is on the road to become legally bound to NATO’s overall project. Along with other independent analysts, I’ve argued from the start that this whole geopolitical drama is first and foremost about NATO annexing Ukraine. The NATO-Ukraine twisted love affair started in the early 2000s. After some soul-searching, it was decided NATO or no NATO should be the subject of a national referendum in the future. In the 2008 Bucharest summit NATO opened its arms, stating that Ukraine could join as soon as it met the criteria. In 2010 Yanukovich announced Ukraine was not interested anymore. Still, Ukraine remains quite a muscular member of NATO’s innocent-sounding Partnership for Peace (PfP). No wonder NATO is now in overdrive selling the notion that Ukraine is “under threat” – and should join as soon as possible. NATO’s secretary-general – the astonishingly mediocre American poodle, Anders Fogh Rasmussen - said we’re living the most serious threat to Europe’s security since the end of the Cold War: “This is a wake-up call. For the Euro-Atlantic community. For NATO. And for all those committed to a Europe whole, free and at peace.’’He forgot to add: a Europe under free and peaceful submission to the Pentagon. NATO’s top military commander, who is - surprise! – an American, Gen. Philip Breedlove, is spinning that Russia amassed a “very, very sizable and very, very ready” military force on the eastern borders of Ukraine. Moscow denies it, and points out these troops comply with international agreements.

Someone’s obviously got to give. Russian Defense Minister General Sergey Shoigu has been on the phone with Pentagon supremo, Chuck Hagel. They are talking “de-escalation of tensions.”Yet EU politicians and NATO functionaries seem to have not been briefed.

All along the (Transnistria) watchtower

The EU spin on Western corporate media is that relentlessly demonized President Putin wants to “destabilize” Ukraine and create a Russian sphere of influence in southern and eastern Ukraine as far as Odessa. Oh yes, and annex Transnistria.

In fact, it was the speaker of Transnistria’s parliament, Mikahil Burla, who has asked Moscow to incorporate the Russian-speaking region in Western Moldova into the Russian Federation. After all, already in 2006, 97.2 percent of voters in a referendum said exactly the same thing. Moldova – just like Ukraine - will sign an association and free trade agreement with the EU, and Transnistria wants no part of it.

It remains to be seen how the EU – essentially via the IMF – will “save” the monstrously bankrupt Ukrainian economy. An association agreement will only make things even gloomier for average Ukrainians. Whatever trickle of cash flows to Kiev, it will come with humongous “austerity” clauses attached.

Moscow does not have to “annex” or “invade” anything; it just needs to sit back, relax and watch the West manage its self-created mess. Apart from fiery NATO rhetoric and that only slightly relevant signing in Brussels last Friday, there are few indications so far the “lost in its own pivots” US and a beleaguered EU have the ability, the willingness and the necessary commitment to support the Kiev regime changers all the way.

And all that 15 years after NATO’s bombing of the former Yugoslavia - which led to serial regime changes, balkanization and a “grand prize”: Mafialand Kosovo, and its prime real estate asset, Camp Bondsteel, a key plank in the US Empire of Bases. Rasmussen wants NATO to go for a replay in Ukraine? But fools rush in where angels fear to tread and Russia is no Kosovo.

The Maidan activists in Ukraine may have achieved their goal of overthrowing the government - but they say they have no plans to remove their tents from the city center, at least until May's presidential election.

However, their leaders are looking increasingly divided - throwing harsh accusations at each other. Traitors, bandits, snakes... these just some of the insults being hurled at former allies.

The Right Sector does not want to fade away like other Eastern Bloc European Fascist Militants and want some power an will not let Arseniy Yatsenyuk run the show.

The Right Sector will not give up power now they have tasted blood and want the blood of Arsen Avakov.

Backgrounder on Arseniy Yatsenyuk
The present Prime Minister is Arseniy Yatsenyuk. He has formulated himself very similarily to the the acting president.

He has warned of "extremely unpopular" financial steps ahead, and has grimly referred to new cabinet members as "kamikaze" posts. Yatsenyuk is one of the leading members of Fatherland party. He formerly served as economy and foreign minister.

Yatsenyuk was elected to the parliament from Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc in 2007 and later the same year he was elected the Chairman of the Parliament. During the Ukrainian political crises of September 2008 he resigned. Yatsenyuk announced plans to create a political party on basis of the Front of Changes public initiative.

According to Wikipedia has he often been referred to as a political clone lacking differentiating policies of Ukraine's President, Viktor Yushchenko. On April 5, 2009, Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced his candidacy for President of Ukraine in the next presidential election.

During the election campaign fellow candidate Serhiy Ratushniak repeatedly insulted Yatsenyuk because of his alleged Jewish roots, among others Ratushniak called Yatsenyuk an "impudent little Jew" who was "successfully serving the thieves who are in power in Ukraine and is using criminal money to plough ahead towards Ukraine's presidency".

According to Chief Rabbi of Ukraine Yaakov Bleich Yatsenyuk is not Jewish.

Yatsenyuk stated in November 2009 that Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko and Party of Regions were "almost a single whole".

In April 2010 Yatsenyuk was officially chosen as party leader of Front for Change; by that time the public initiative had become a political party also.

During the October 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election Yatsenyuk competed on a party list based on the party All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland.Yatsenyuk headed this election list; because "Fatherland"-leader Yulia Tymoshenko was imprisoned after a trial were former president Yushchenko witnessed against here on charges of corruption.

Yatsenyuk was elected leader of the parliamentary faction of "Fatherland" on 12 December 2012.

In late 2013 he became one of the three main opposition figures during Euromaidan together with Klitschko, from the UDAR party Tyahnybok leader of the Svoboda party.

He lost some public appeal after negotiating compromise deal with now-ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, leader of the Party of Regions.

Yatseniuk wants European Union membership for Ukraine.

Yatseniuk is against privatization of state property and wants to simplify the civil service. In November 2009 he saw as his most difficult task if elected President "to break the political clan system that has been built up over the last 18 years".

Yatsenyuk wants to create a common energy company with European Union countries and Russia. Yatseniuk has opposed participation of Ukrainian troops in peacekeeping operations abroad.

Yatseniuk opposes same-sex marriage, because it contradicts his personal beliefs as a Greek Catholic

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Pranaya SJB Rana and Roshan Sedhai of E Kantipur spoke to CPN- Maoist party spokesperson Pampha Bhusal about the prospects of unification, their opposition to local elections and the party’s roadmapWhat are the prospects for reunification with the UCPN (Maoist)?
It should be understood that, for now, we have only formed a working alliance with the UCPN (Maoist). We split from the party due to differences in ideology and policy.

However, we still believe that all revolutionary communist parties should come together. So we have initiated unification processes with the Pari Thapa-led CPN (Unified) and the Mani Thapa-led Revolutionary Communist Party of Nepal.

We will form an alliance with any party that is leftist, republican and revolutionary. Right now, we are focused on halting ongoing activities that go against the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the restructuring of the state, like the push for local elections.

We took the initiative to approach the UCPN (Maoist) regarding this issue and we happened to agree, so we issued a joint statement as part of a working alliance. This is where we have reached so far.

But in an interview with the Post last week, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal seemed to hint that you were pretty close to an alliance.

Of course, the working alliance could always be a step towards party unification but right now, we are not close to unity. The CPN-Maoist still believes in the need for a new people’s revolt as the CA has been captured by those who were once against federalism, secularism and republicanism.

The UCPN (Maoist), on the other hand, went to Hetauda, decided that the revolution was complete and adopted a different line of socialist movement.

We will have an alliance only if the UCPN (Maoist) rectifies this line.

Ukrainian Neo Nazi group Right Sector has announced it holds the acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov accountable for the death of notorious radical militant Aleksandr Muzychko and will avenge it, Ukrainian media reports

We note this is a death that is lighter than a feather we mourn for comrades in Kharkov gunned down in the street on 14th.15th March who represent the best of humanity not the worst like Aleksandr Muzychko.

Backgrounder on Arsen Avakov :

Arsen AvakovArsen Avakov is the new Interior Minister. He started his career as engineer employed by All-Union Scientific-Research Institute on Water Protection (Kharkiv). In 1990 Arsen Avakov founded and headed “Investor” JSC, аnd “Basis” Commercial Bank later in 1992.

In 2002 Avakov was elected a Member of the Executive Committee of Kharkiv City Council.

In 2010 Avakov withdrew from “Our Ukraine” political party headed by the President Viktor Yushchenko and joined “Batkivshchyna” party and accepted the offer of Yulia Tymoshenko to lead the regional organization of “Batkivshchyna” political party.

He was accused of illegal privatization of land and abuse of power in 2012 and was under criminal investigation by the previous government, which forced him to flee to Italy.

Avakov was put on the international wanted list of Interpol and put under house arrest in Italy.

He was elected into parliament later the same year and a following Court ruling made it possible for him to return. His fellow party members said the case was politically motivated.

Radio Free Europe claims he is one of the most authoritative members of Batkivshchyna at the moment, who emerged during the revolution.

Interior minister Avakov stated as one of his first intentions that the Right sector should be integrated into the state security apparatus.

Democrracy and Class Struggle says it looks like this integration has led to internal war with Aleksandr Muzychko and the night of the long knives amongst the Fascists and Nazis.

On March 23, activists of "Borotba" (Struggle), together with the association "People’s Unity" in Kharkov, held a rally and march in memory of the anti-fascist comrades who died on the night of March 14-15 at the hands of armed ultra-nationalists.

On that day, anti-fascists recognized and followed members of the neo-Nazi gang "Right Sector" who had fired upon mass anti-government demonstrations that took place in Kharkov on March 8. When they arrived outside the fascists’ hiding place, the Right Sector opened fire. As a result two defenders of Kharkov were killed on the spot.

Participants in the rally tied black ribbons on flags in remembrance of the dead activists and observed a minute of silence.

People came into Rymarska street to remember those who gave their lives to protect the civilian movement 10 days ago.

Activists marched through the main streets of Kharkov, chanting "Fascists kill, power covers up", "Remember forever", "Kharkiv, stand up!" and requiring local authorities to ensure democratic freedoms and the right to local self-government.

The blood of the Kharkov defenders is on the hands of the Kiev junta, which legalized the neo-Nazi gangs, armed them and sent to the South-Eastern regions, giving them their full support.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Given all the talk that later charges against Tymoshenko were trumped up or falsified in the Ukraine, it’s probably important to know that her ally Lazarenko was prosecuted in the United States, where he was convicted and imprisoned for money laundering and other crimes. Tymoshenko was not charged in that case and she has denied wrongdoing, but she was named explicitly as part of the conspiracy detailed in the indictment.

“Lazarenko received money from companies owned or controlled by Ukrianian [sic] business woman Yulia Tymoshenko … in exchange for which Lazarenko exercised his official authority in favor of Tymoshenko’s companies, and … Lazarenko failed to disclose to the people and government of Ukraine that he was receiving significant amounts of money from these companies.”

Tymoshenko moved from business to politics when she entered parliament in 1996.

REMEMBER WILLIAM HAGUE THE BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY STANDING UP IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS AND SAYING THERE WAS NO DANGER TO UKRANIANS OF RUSSIAN EXTRACTION IN UKRAINE - WELL LISTEN YOUR TYMOSCHENKO WHO WANTS THE 8 MILLION RUSSIAN UKRAINIANS NUKED.YULIA TYMOSHENKO'S RESPONSE :
She tweeted “The conversation took place, but the '8 million Russians in Ukraine' piece is an edit. In fact, I said Russians in Ukraine – are Ukrainians. Hello FSB :) Sorry for the obscene language.”

Roselle Valerio (RV): What was your immediate reaction to the arrest of Benito Tiamzon and Wilma Austria?

Jose Maria Sison (JMS): I thought immediately that the arrest of these two NDFP consultants in the peace negotiations is in violation of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG). They are holders of the document of identification under JASIG and are protected from surveillance, harassment and arrest.

RV: Is it true, as Alex Padilla, the military and other Aquino government officials claim, that you are on opposite sides with the Tiamzon couple regarding peace negotiations? That Tiamzon and Austria are “hardliners” and “war freaks” and that they are at odds with you and the NDFP negotiating panel?

JMS: The Tiamzon couple are in support of the peace negotiations. That's why they are consultants in the peace negotiations. The claims of high officials and military officers of the reactionary government that the Tiamzon couple are at odds with the CPP founding chairman and the NDFP Negotiating Panel is a malicious intrigue. They should read the official declarations of the CPP Central Committee supporting the work of the NDFP Negotiating Panel and its consultants, including myself.

RV: How well do you know Benito Tiamzon and Wilma Austria?

JMS: I knew them as excellent cadres of the Manila-Rizal regional committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines in the early 1970s. Then Benny Tiamzon became secretary of the Eastern Visayas regional committee of the CPP in the mid-1970s onwards. He was outstanding for his comprehensive ability in ideology, politics and organization. Wilma was also outstanding. It is not surprising that they would rise to the highest central positions in tne CPP.

RV: What do you know of Tiamzon's involvement and role in the CPP in the 1990s, in the Second Great Rectification Movement?

JMS: Tiamzon played a leading role in the Second Great Rectification Movement, which started in 1992. This was an educational campaign that reaffirmed basic revolutionary principles and resulted in the rectification of serious subjectivist and opportunist errors and the revitalization and resurgence of the CPP, NPA, the mass base and the people's democratic government. The CPP cadres and members held on to the general line of democratic revolution through protracted people's war, while a few rabid opponents became NGO racketeers, yellow labor dealers, bureaucrats of the reactionary government and even spies and psywar experts of the military

RV: What do you know of the Tiamzon couple's current roles in the CPP and their activities in the Visayas when they were arrested?

JMS: My reliable source of information regarding the current roles of the Tiamzons is the CPP official statement published in Ang Bayan. They are described as senior leaders of the CPP paying close attention to the plight and rehabilitation of the communities and families victimized by the supertyphoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in the Visayas.

RV: What will be the impact of the arrest of the Tiamzon couple on the CPP leadership? The military say that without Tiamzon the CPP will suffer from a vacuum of leadership.

JMS: Leadership in the CPP is collective. It does not depend on any single leader no matter how excellent. When I was arrested in 1977, I was the CPP Central Committee chairman. But the armed revolution continued, grew in strength and became a major factor in the overthrow of Marcos despite his boast that he had finished off the CPP upon my arrest.

Like me and Julie when we were arrested in 1977, Benny Tiamzon and Wilma Austria will be replaced automatically by comrades. To use basketball parlance, I say that the CPP has a deep bench. The Central Committee is replenished and further strengthened by the increasing number of national cadres as well as regional cadres from some 17 regions.

RV: What will be the impact on the New People's Army and the people's war?

JMS: The NPA will become even more determined to wage people's war. The ground is fertile for people's war because of the system of oppression and exploitation that subjects the people to intolerable suffering. The people desire the overthrow of the rotten system of big compradors and landlords servile to US imperialism.

RV: What was the status of the NDFP-GPH peace negotiations before the arrest of the Tiamzon couple? What will now be consequences to the peace negotiations?

JMS: Before the arrest of the Tiamzon couple, the peace negotiations were paralyzed by the Aquino regime's noncompliance with and violations of existing agreements between the NDFP and the Manila government. The imprisonment of JASIG-protected consultants has had adverse consequences to the peace negotiations.

RV: Do you have a message you would like to convey to Benito Tiamzon, Wilma Austria, and their five companions?

JMS: Luis Jalandoni and the NDFP Negotiating Panel are working hard to demand their release in accordance with the JASIG. But the Aquino regime is extremely reactionary, narrow-minded and short- sighted.

I told Marcos in 1977: you have imprisoned me but the revolutionary movement is free to grow in strength and advance. Imprisonment is an opportunity to perform an important form of service to the people. By manifesting their defiance, revolutionary prisoners can inspire the people to fight more fiercely for their national and social liberation.

RV: What is your message to the Aquino regime?

JMS: Respect the The Hague Joint Declaration and the JASIG and release the NDFP peace consultants. Respect the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) and release the political prisoners imprisoned on trumped-up common crimes. Thus, there will be a sound basis for resuming the peace negotiations.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Democracy and Class Struggle has noticed how Peasant Struggles for Land and against debt have become invisible struggles has we have noticed that even in Wales here.

We echo that such heroic struggles should be covered more by the so called revolutionary press and mass media.

In Punjab in the last month the landless and landed peasantry in Punjab literally created a tornado in Punjab.

For 7 days from February 12t to 19th the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union and the Bharatiya Kisan Union(Ugrahan) besieged the DC'collector's office in Punjab like a swarm of bees.

They displayed remarkable courage in thwarting repression from the police launching protracted resistance with a series of demonstrations.

It was reminiscent of a spark turning into a Priarie fire.

It will be written forever in the annals of the revolutionary democratic movement in Punjab and arguably nowhere in India have we witnessed such a mass upsurge of the peasantry.

What was remarkable was that inspite of facing an official ban their protracted relentlessness forced the administration to allow their protest for demands.

It speaks volumes of the leadership and cadre of these organizations who put painstaking work in redressing the basic issues of the broad peasantry.

Since the dharna finished in Bhatinda on February 19th the struggle has continued in pockets of Punjab, district-wise.

The struggle received support from huge sections of the people.The activists made their own kitchen and even prepared food for the entire team on the streets , without the assistance of women.

This struggle proved the importance of mass revolutionary combat and struggle in a people's movement .

On February 20th government conceded the demand for plots for the landless peasantry but has yet not implemented the demand.

This shows the socio-economic system prevalent in Punjab.

At local and district levels the agitation continues like a red lamp continuously burning.

The author feels this struggle requires support of people world over .

He just returned from Bhatinda attending a rally on March 20th. The police clamped down on activists in the Mansa region and blocked the activists from going further in Lambi village of Muktsar district.

As leaders of the CPP, Tiamzon and Austria are the opposite of the landlord Aquino and his coterie of corrupt officials... Unlike Aquino who was totally clueless about supertyphoon Yolanda, Tiamzon and Austria immediately mobilized the CPP’s forces to carry out relief work and help in the rehabilitation of the people's lives.

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) condemns in the strongest terms the reported arrest yesterday of Benito Tiamzon and Wilma Austria. Tiamzon and Austria are both senior cadres of the CPP Central Committee and consultants of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in peace negotiations with the government of the Republic of the Philippines (GPH).

At the time of their arrest, both Tiamzon and Austria were performing tasks and duties assigned to them by the CPP and the NDFP. Up to recently, both were busy conducting first hand investigation into the conditions of the working class people in the Visayas region whose lives were devastated by supertyphoon Yolanda (Haiyan) and who continue to suffer from the Aquino regime’s antipeople, crony-controlled, corrupt, and grossly inept response to the calamity.

Both were closely monitoring the efforts of the New People’s Army (NPA) in carrying out rehabilitation work in devastated regions. They were receiving reports from NPA commands about efforts to mobilize Red fighters to help build communal farms, till the land and mobilize and distribute seeds and other agricultural resources from the NDFP.

Austria, who has been among the country’s stalwarts in upholding and bannering the rights of women, is gravely concerned with the situation of women and children after the calamity, and has been vigorously calling on all revolutionary forces to work hard to expose their sufferings and extend all possible effort to alleviate their conditions. She was utterly indignant at having learned that substantial amounts of relief goods had rotted at the Aquino government’s warehouses while the people of Tacloban continue to suffer from lack of food, shelter and income.

Tiamzon, himself, has been actively looking into the widespread devastation wrought by the storm on the agricultural economy and fishing communities of Eastern Visayas, Cebu, Panay and Negros. He was personally looking into studies estimating the actual damage on agriculture and fisheries to be at P75-80 billion, contrary to the Aquino regime’s grossly understated estimate of P15 billion which help justify the allocation of bigger funds to his crony’s big business infrastructure projects.
As peace consultants of the NDFP, the arrest of Tiamzon and Austria further imperil peace negotiations between the GPH and the NDFP. The CPP condemns the Aquino regime for outrightly violating the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) in carrying out the arrest and detention of Tiamzon and Austria. They are both publicly known figures in peace negotiations. The NDFP has further identified both Tiamzon and Austria as holders of documents of identification counter-verified by then officials of the GPH.

The CPP condemns the Aquino regime and its armed forces for filing a slew of trumped-up criminal charges against Tiamzon and Austria. The CPP condemns the media campaign being conducted by Malacañang and the AFP to demonize Tiamzon and Austria by depicting them as common criminals.

Such effort by the Aquino regime seeks to draw away attention from the public flak it is getting for its lies, corruption and ineptness, especially at the heels of its monumental failures in addressing the urgent demands of the people of the Visayas devastated by the supertyphoon. The Aquino regime is increasingly isolated from the people because of its contempt and disregard for the socio-economic conditions of millions of workers and peasants who suffer from its wrong economic policies that prioritize the interests of its cronies and its foreign big business bosses.

As leaders of the CPP, Tiamzon and Austria are the opposite of the landlord Aquino and his coterie of corrupt officials. Tiamzon and Austria are the epitome of simple living. Neither of them own a private home nor drive their own sportscar. Neither do they play with guns for fun or personal satisfaction. They are not like Aquino and his officials who plunder public funds to aggrandize themselves or perpetuate their political rule.

Despite their age and health conditions, both Tiamzon and Austria continue to travel great distances in the rural areas in order to reach the farthest peasant homes and be among the most downtrodden masses. Unlike Aquino who was totally clueless of the conditions of the people in the path of supertyphoon Yolanda, Tiamzon and Austria were among the peasant masses when the winds ravaged through the Visayas. Unlike Aquino who took four days to act, Tiamzon and Austria immediately mobilized the CPP’s forces to carry out relief work and help in the rehabilitation of the peasant masses who suffered grave devastation of their crops and livelihood.

The CPP demands the immediate release of Tiamzon and Austria, as well as all their companions, and the dropping of all criminal charges against them. The CPP demands that the Aquino regime accord them the right to counsel and medical attention. Austria has severe asthma, and suffers both from a serious kidney ailment and spinal bone degeneration secondary to osteoporosis, and is in need of constant medical care.

The CPP, together with the workers, peasants and downtrodden masses and all their revolutionary forces, deplore the arrest of Tiamzon and Austria. Their arrest forms part of the general trend of repression under the Aquino regime. Daily, the landlord Aquino seeks to perpetuate the oppressive and exploitative system by unleashing his attack dogs, armed and supported with US military financing, against the peasant masses and workers, who stand up for their rights and voice their demands.

While the wisdom and guidance of individual leaders is important, the advance of the revolutionary struggle depends more on the collective wisdom, determination and organization of the revolutionary masses. The arrest of Tiamzon and Austria will not stop the main trend of advance of the people’s war.

It is the Aquino regime’s puppetry, corruption, brutality and mendacity that teach the Filipino people about the need to wage revolutionary resistance. They are thus ever determined to advance along the path of widespread mass struggles and revolutionary armed resistance in order to achieve national and social liberation.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

"As we have said we must not treat all contradictions in process as being equal but must distinguish between the principal and the secondary contradictions and pay special attention to grasping the principal one"

Mao Zedong on Contradiction - August 1937

The situation in the Ukraine and Crimea exhibits a mulitude of contradictions and some see this complexity has an excuse for grandstanding and taking the liberal view of plague on both your houses in regard to US Nato Imperialism and the Russian Federation.

However our duty has revolutionaries is to clarify the complexity and guide political action.

From a concrete analysis of the situation in the Ukraine we identify the source of the current crisis in an explosive internal social contradiction which has been fermented by a long term US/NATO investment of a minimum of five billion dollars to exploit the justified greviances of the Ukrainian people to their own US/NATO expansionist Imperialist ends.

We have evidence from Wiki-leaks of US intent to bring Ukraine into NATO despite the wish of the Ukrainian people to remain outside this military alliance.

There is also evidence from multiple sources of subversion both overt and covert in the Ukraine by US/NATO Imperialism leading up to the February 21st explosion and seizure of power in Kiev by a Fascist Putsch.

We identify the principal contradiction in the Ukraine has between US/NATO Imperialism and the people of the Ukraine and Crimea and not with the Russian Bourgeoisie.

There is also a contradiction with the Russian bourgeoisie and the people of the Ukraine and Crimea but we identify this has a secondary contradiction and not the driving one.

The Russian Federation wave of pro Putinism is also being accompanied by its opposite Russian Anti Fascism which if exploited by the Russian Federation Left has great revolutionary potential and could ulimately be Putin's undoing.

Thus grasping the principal contradiction allows us to combat the chorus of Russian Imperialism issuing from the neo conservatives and soft liberal left and expose US/NATO Imperialism has the principal enemy - not just of the Ukrainian people but of all mankind by installing a fascist infested Putsch in Kiev.

The European Left Singing from the same hymn sheet has US NATO Imperialism is self defeating and letting the installers of the Kiev Putsch off the hook.

We cannot fight all our enemies at the same time which is why Mao advises us to identify our principal enemy and focus on his destruction while at the same time exploiting what secondary contradictions that exist to prepare battle with our next adversary for the time he becomes the principal enemy.

Has Mao Zedong writes - August 1937

"There are thousands of scholars and men of action who do not understand it, and the result is that, lost in a fog, they are unable to get to the heart of the problem and naturally cannot find a way to resolve contradictions"

Also remember it was Romania with
Germany that attacked Crimea during Second World War - you are not exposing
your own bourgeosie's pro NATO position on Crimea and Ukraine Today.

That is why it is important to identify
principal enemy.

•Nicholas Glais "The
duty of every honest Russian Communist - to express their solidarity with the
Ukrainian comrades and give them full support.

•

•We do not
choose between Kiev and Moscow regimes between Kaiser and King.

•

•We have our
own barricade on which we must fight. It starts on the streets of Kharkov and
Odessa, where activists "Borotba" mobilize workers against local
oligarchs and ends in Moscow and St. Petersburg, where the Communists are going
to antiwar rallies".

•

•Артем Кирпиченок

•

•Radu Florin That is
pro-imperialist bullshit on your part. There is NO lesser evil between Russia
and America since they are both huge empires with roughly the same number of
nukes. Unless you make minced meat of Maos' Three Worlds Theory, that is. Plus
I do not see why you bring up World War 2, when did I EVER support Germany and
Romania's aggression against the Soviet Union? My advice for you is to keep
cool and not get yourself too much carried away.

•

•

•Nicholas Glais Well
you are certainly supporting the Romanian Bourgeoisie at the moment your main
enemy at home with your Russophobic bullshit and provding ideological cover for
the main enemy of the worlds People's US NATO Imperialism

•

•

•Radu Florin There is
no main enemy here, Russia and America are both huge empires with roughly the
same number of nukes.

•

•Nicholas Glais Do
some economic analysis Russia accounts for some 3% of world capital flows and
is nothing like an equivalent in terms of global Imperialism to US imperialism-
The Russian bourgeoisie is a secondary enemy and not a principal one.

•

•

•Radu Florin Germany
too had fewer colonies than Britain and France yet Lenin did NOT regard German
imperialism as the lesser evil, did he? You forget Russia has the support of
China, which is the most populous in the world and the second-largest economy
in the world. But your main fault is the fact you refuse to see the truth of
Mao's Three Worlds Theory. Russia has thousands of nukes, HOW THE FUCK can a
country with thousands of nukes be a secondary power, I fail to see through
your silly LIN-BIAOIST line of reasoning.

•

•Nicholas Glais There
are many contradictions in the current situation and yes even contradictions
between Russia and China has China has its own interests in Ukraine eg Building
a new port and land hunger for its Agro Industrial Complex for Ukrainian Land ! Out of all these multiple contradictions we have to decide which is principal
and identify our enemy.My position is to expose my own bourgeoise the British
Bourgeoisie and support Ukrainian anti Fascists, If I was Russian I should
oppose the Russian bourgeoisie at Peace marches and give support to anti
Fascists in the Ukraine. What are you doing to expose Pro NATO Romanian
bourgeoisie ? And what support are you giving to anti Fascists in Ukraine.

•

•

•Radu Florin The
Western bourgeoisie may be the bigger enemy in YOUR country but not on the
world scale. You keep on parroting the same LIN-BIAOIST un-Maoist line because
you are blind to the fact Russia's thousands of nukes represent o destructive
potential ROUGHLY EQUAL to that of the United States. And Russia won't be
without its OWN huge allies against the West. The situation at the present time
is similar to that of 1914- two imperialist coalitions of roughly the same
strength. There is no principal enemy at the world scale and no secondary one.
As for my own country, I do a lot to expose the hypocrisy of the both sides,
you shouldn't worry about that. The fact a Western Communist should focus on
fighting the Western bourgeoisie does NOT mean that he should close his eyes to
the truth: nuclear weapons are the best indicator of imperialist strength and
Russia and America have roughly the same number of nukes.

•

•

•Nicholas Glais So
North Korean with nuclear Weapons makes it Imperialist ? your sole indicator of
Imperialism is Nuclear Weapons - have you not heard of CAPITALIST IMPERIALISM
you analysis the concrete conditions in the world economy has Rosa Luxembourg,
Lenin and Bukharin did - I do not remember them counting guns in 1914 to decide
who was imperialist but analysing the world economy. Your view would be fine
with a moralistic opposition to Imperialism by the Liberal Hobson.

•

•

•Radu Florin No,
because North Korea is not imperialist, it doesn't export capital on a large
scale, it doesn't have an EMPIRE like Russia's CIS. I never said that nukes are
the best indicator of imperialism, I only said they were the best indicator of
imperialist STRENGTH. Nukes are the best indicator of imperialist STRENGTH, and
I wasn't I who came up with that, it was Mao himself, Mao whom you have
forsaken for silly Lin-Biaoism.

•NOTE
THE US EXPENDITURE IS EQUAL TO THE COMBINED TOTAL OF ALL THE OTHER 14 ON THE
LIST.

• Fleets
and aircraft carriers The US has five battleship fleets, the Second Fleet in
the Atlantic, the Third Fleet in the Eastern Pacific, the Fifth Fleet in the
Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean, the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean and the
Seventh Fleet in the Western Pacific. No other nation gets a look in here. This
is a list of the aircraft carriers in service in 2013: United States 10, Italy
2, United Kingdom, 1, France 1, RUSSIA 1, Spain 1, India 1, Brazil 1, China 1
and Thailand 1.

•The US
currently maintains a world-wide network of some 1000 military bases and
installations (outside the US, 2,639 including US home bases in 1993). In
addition, other NATO countries, such as France and the UK have a further 200
such military locations within the network of global military control. The
biggest “host” countries are those that once lost a major war in which the US
was involved. Germany, Italy, Japan and Korea are the four biggest ‘hosts’.
France and the UK mainly have bases in the remains of their colonial empires.
The UK is strong in the South Atlantic and around the Mediterranean; France is
strong in the South Pacific and in Africa.

•RUSSIA
CURRENTLY HAS SIX MILITARY FACILITIES IN FORMER SOVIET REPUBLICS AND INDIA HAS
ONE IN TAJIKISTAN. CHINA CURRENTLY HAS NO US-STYLE OVERSEAS BASES.

•

•IT IS
NOT SUFFICIENT TO TAKE JUST ONE INDEX TO DETERMINE WHETHER A COUNTRY IS
IMPERIALIST

•

•

•Radu Florin Mao's
Three World Theory does not include the military spending, it is mainly about
the number of nukes. Why do you refuse to see that NUKES ARE MORE DESTRUCTIVE
than conventional warfare is? Can America defeat Russia with planes and tanks
and aircraft carriers? Not, it CANNOT. Military bases DO NOT COUNT when we deal
with a NUCLEAR SUPERPOWER!!

•

•Nicholas Glais So
that's it Nuclear Weapons determines Imperialist or Not ? Better forget about
Marxism Leninism Maoism and a theory of Imperialism just Florin's theory of
Nukes a short cut to concrete analysis of concrete conditions or how to conduct
a theory of Imperialism without studying it

•

•

•Radu Florin Nukes are
the best indicator of imperialist STRENGTH, not of imperialism. Go study Mao's
Three World Theory, you silly Lin-Biaoist!

•

•

•Nicholas Glais The
Monopoly Capitalist Economy is not an indicator of Imperialist Strength just
the products they produce like Nukes you confuse appearance for essence and
substitute geo politics for class struggle.

•

•

Radu Florin Mao said
to Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia that NUKES WERE THE BEST INDICATOR OF IMPERIALIST
STRENGTH. Your comparison with North Korea is unappropriate as North Korea is
clearly not imperialist. Imperialism is about monopoly capital, finance capital
and export of capital. Imperialist STRENGTH however is first and foremost about
nuclear weapons. Get over it, you Lin Biaoist traitor to Maoism!